Personal vehicles such as automobiles and motor bikes may provide a flexible form of transportation for commuters and passengers in urban environments. However, owning and operating a personal vehicle can be expensive when costs for the vehicle, fuel, insurance, and maintenance are factored in. In addition, personal vehicles increase congestion and pollution in urban environments. Further, finding parking can be cumbersome. Public transit systems, including buses, trains, subways, etc., that operate on a fixed schedule, are an alternate lower cost option for commuters. Shared transportation options reduce in-city congestion and improve air quality. In addition, the hassle of parking is avoided. However, a commuter may have limited flexibility in terms of departure and arrival times, as well as departure and arrival location.
Another shared transportation option that provides a mix of flexibility, cost, ease of use, and environmental impact is a shared vehicle system. That is, a fleet of vehicles can be distributed over an operating zone (e.g., a city) and a user can rent any vehicle of the fleet for a short period (e.g., a few hours of a day). For example, shared vehicles may be provided at designated parking spots in the operating zone, in a dedicated or shared parking lot, etc. Once a user account is set up, the user can identify a vehicle that the user wishes to rent based on the vehicle's location within the operating zone, and can rent the vehicle efficiently and quickly, often without requiring additional paperwork. The user can then return the vehicle to the point of origin or drop off the vehicle at any one of one or more alternate locations that may be available, as per the user's convenience. The shared vehicle system reduces the user's commuting costs while also reducing in-city congestion and pollution. At the same time, the ability to pick-up and drop-off a vehicle at a time and location determined by the user provides increased flexibility and efficiency for the user.
Unfortunately, when using personal vehicles or shared vehicles, parking often presents difficulties for a user. For example, there may be situations where a parking space is expected to be open, but there is an obstruction impeding a vehicle from being parked in the space. As a result, while a user is directed to a parking space, the user may not park in the designated space, leading to frustration and/or dissatisfaction. At the same time, a parking system server may not possess data from which it can determine why a user is not parking in the available space. An obstruction may be a movable one, such as a shopping cart left inadvertently in the spot. Alternatively, an obstruction may be due to an unauthorized vehicle having parked in the parking spot without authorization from the parking system.
A dedicated patrol system (e.g., one or more patrol vehicles with dedicated drivers) may be maintained by a parking authority so as to intermittently verify the authority of vehicles that are parked. In addition, the patrol system may assess parking space availability. However, a patrol system undesirably adds costs and complexity to the parking system.